To the first one, it can be summarized in this amended passage:"Regulatory costs affect small banks (and the small businesses that rely on them) more than large banks because the costs are largely fixed and large banks by definition have a bigger asset base over which to spread these costs."This is basically "regulatory capture". Dodd-Frank was passed by the same overwhelmingly democrat congress as the oxymoronically-titled ACA (aka Obamacare) was.If you vote democrat, and/or are not a discerning republican, I believe you are contributing to the problem, to the income inequality so often bemoaned, ironically enough, BY DEMOCRATS!Legislation such as this, or the minimum wage, reduces upward mobility.It doesn't get any clearer than this.Regarding the second one … "(E)ven a significant tax increase on high-income households and corresponding transfer to low-income households has a small effect on overall inequality."Soooo ... now what? Even taxing the rich, which robs incentive, & giving that money to the poor, which robs incentive, won't do it. And keep in mind, Brookings is a center-left think-tank. This isn’t a conservative/libertarian outfit funded by the Koch brothers.